ROCK GLACIER MONITORING USING AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS: CONVENTIONAL VS. UAV-BASED MAPPING – A COMPARATIVE STUDY

International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences

Seier, G.^2¹  Sulzer, W.^2²  Wecht, M.^2³  Kaufmann, V.^1⁴ 

[1]Department of Geography and Regional Science, University of Graz, Heinrichstraße 36, 8010 Graz, Austria^2

[2]Institute of Applied Geosciences, Graz University of Technology, Steyrergasse 30, 8010 Graz, Austria^3

[3]Institute of Computer Graphics and Vision, Graz University of Technology, Inffeldgasse 16/II, 8010 Graz, Austria^4

[4]Institute of Geodesy, Graz University of Technology, Steyrergasse 30, 8010 Graz, Austria^1

关键词: Rock glacier;    Mountain permafrost;    Photogrammetry;    Monitoring;    Change detection;    UAV;    SfM;    Tschadinhorn;   

DOI  :  10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-1-239-2018

学科分类：地球科学(综合)

来源: Copernicus Publications

【 摘 要 】

Rock glaciers are creep phenomena of mountain permafrost. Typically, these landforms look like lava flows from a bird’s eye view. Active rock glaciers move downslope with flow velocities in the range of few centimeters to several meters per year. Thus, large masses of rock and ice can be gradually transported down-valley. In this paper we present a comparative study analyzing surface change for Tschadinhorn rock glacier, a relatively fast moving rock glacier located in the Hohe Tauern Range of the Austrian Alps. Aerial photographs (1954–2017) of both metric (conventional) and non-metric (UAV-based) aerial surveys were compared to derive multi-annual to annual flow vector fields and surface height change. For each time interval given we computed a single representative value for flow velocity and, if applicable, also for area-wide surface height change, i.e. volume change. The velocity graph obtained represents the temporal evolution of the kinematics of the rock glacier with good discrimination. Volume change was difficult to quantify since temporal changes were rather small and close to insignificance. The precision and accuracy of the results obtained were numerically quantified. Our study showed that for the Tschadinhorn rock glacier UAV-based aerial surveys can substitute conventional aerial surveys as carried out by national mapping agencies, such as the Austrian Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying (BEV). Thus, UAV-based aerial surveys can help to bridge the data gap between regular aerial surveys. The high accuracy of the UAV-derived results would even allow intra-annual change detection of flow velocity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY